I’m from the South and in many ways, heartily appreciate the food culture from that part of the country. Collard greens, black-eyed peas, fried chicken, fried okra, fried green tomatoes…okay, fried everything. But, the one Southern comfort food I cannot handle is pecan pie. Whether you call it “PEE-can” or “pe-CON” pie, this sticky, overly sweetened confection is one of the worst desserts to have come from the South, in my opinion.
Most pecan pies are little more than a pastry filled with corn syrup, table sugar, eggs, vanilla and pecans. These beautiful nuts, already sweet and delicious on their own, are drowned in a pool of corn syrup, completely masking any discernible nut flavor. You are left with a crunchy, chewy mass, lacking any semblance of flavor complexity. If this diabetes-inducing treat isn’t sweet enough for you, never fear! Thanks to Pinterest, you can find countless incarnations of this dessert that utilize candy bars, chocolate, bourbon and so much more. Sick.
Given my obvious disgust for pecan pie, I was surprised to find that a recipe for a Five Nut Caramel Tart would pique any interest. Although pecans are not one of the five nuts required for this recipe, there are some obvious similarities between this tart and the classic pecan pie. You have pastry and you have nuts, but in lieu of a bed of corn syrup, the nuts are coated in a delicious homemade caramel sauce and sprinkled with coarse sea salt. Crunchy, chewy, salty and sweet but not a lick of Karo Syrup. Now that’s a dessert I can get excited about.
This recipe is from the book, The Splendid Table’s How to Eat Weekends. I adore The Splendid Table public radio program hosted by Lynn Rossetto Kasper and have enjoyed many recipes from this franchise. This particular cookbook is dedicated to weekend cooking, an endeavor which requires more time but one that can result in fantastic meals. The recipes in this cookbook may take a little more time and a little more skill but do seem very promising. Since my good friend Kim requested that I attempt to make a pastry as one of my 100 First Tastes this year, this Five Nut Caramel Tart is dedicated to her!
As I’ve said before, baking is a science! I usually take some liberties with other recipes but since this is baking, I followed the instructions and recipe ingredients accurately. Here is the recipe:
PASTRY
1 1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick (4 ounces) cold, unsalted butter (plus more for buttering the pan)
2 large egg yolks
1 1/2 tablespoons ice water
FILLING
1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter
1/2 cup dark brown sugar (packed)
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 cup toasted salted cashews
2/3 cup toasted salted macadamia nuts
1/2 cup whole blanched almonds
1/3 cup salted, shelled pistachios
1/4 cup pine nuts
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse sea salt
For this recipe, you’ll need a tart pan or some other comparable pan with a false bottom. The recipe did call for an eleven-inch diameter pan but I only own a nine-inch tart pan, so that’s what I used. This recipe also comes together best if you have a food processor to make the pastry, but you can totally do that by hand if you prefer to.
The first thing you’ll need to do is make the pastry. In all the years I’ve been baking, I’ve never made this kind of pastry before so I was very excited to give this a try. I typically make a standard pie crust but this pastry is more like a shortbread, buttery and a little crumbly rather than flaky.
Measure out your flour using the “dip and level” method. Simply dip the measuring cup into your flour to pull out a heaping pile. Use the back of a butter knife to level off the flour by sweeping off the excess with the straight edge. This fills the measuring container without packing the flour down. No sifting required for this recipe. Hooray!
Add the flour, sugar and salt to your food processor and give it a quick pulse to blend the dry ingredients. Next add the stick of cold butter (cut into pieces) into the food processor and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
Separate egg yolks from the egg whites. The recipe actually called for one and a half egg yolks but I have no clue how I would do that accurately so I just used two full egg yolks. Save the egg whites for another use and add the cold water to your egg yolks.
Add the yolk and water mixture to the food processor and pulse until the dough begins to form. At the half way point, the dough will look like cheese curds or cooked cauliflower. Keep going until you have a large dough ball rolling around the container.
The finished dough will look like this. Take care not to over-blend the dough. You don’t want to handle it too much.
Gather the dough and flatten it into a disc. Wrap in plastic and let rest in the fridge for at least half an hour. While the dough is resting, preheat your oven to 400 degrees and place the rack in the center of your oven.
Butter your tart pan. Make sure to get the sides too! There may be some dripping, so bake the tart on a lined sheet pan.
Remove the dough from the fridge and let rest for a few minutes to soften. Press the dough out evenly with your hands to a thickness of about 1/8 inch. I’m certain my crust wasn’t even and was definitely thicker than 1/8 of an inch. It didn’t seem like an issue to me. Just do your best, this recipe is pretty forgiving! Press dough up the sides of the pan and trim of excess with a knife.
Once your crust is all situated, you’ll need to refrigerate the pastry AGAIN. This can stay in the fridge for a minimum of thirty minutes or overnight. While that’s cooling down, get out your pie weights.
What’s that you say? You don’t own any pie weights? You have no clue what a pie weight is? Not a problem! I keep a jar of dry beans around to use as weights when making a pre-bake crust or pastry. Any dry bean will do and these are much, much cheaper than getting a set of pie weights, which are nothing more than a metal string of pearls to help keep your pastry from sliding down.
Remove your cooled pastry from the refrigerator, gently line with parchment paper and fill to the rim with your baking beans or pie weights. Bake for ten minutes.
After ten minutes, remove the beans and paper. Bake for an additional ten minutes or longer until the tart shell is golden brown. Cool completely on a rack.
While that’s cooling, make your filling and reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees. In a heavy 2 quart saucepan, combine butter, sugars and honey. Cook over low heat until the sugars completely dissolve.
Once dissolved, raise the heat and whisk until the mixture comes to a boil. Boil for one minute, or until large bubbles form.
Next, stir in the nut mixture and the cream. Turn off heat and combine thoroughly.
Immediately pour the filling into the tart shell and bake for about 20 minutes or until the filling bubbles. Remove the tart and cool on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with sea salt to taste. Once the tart has begun to cool, you can remove the side of the pan to expose the crust.
The final step? Slice this baby up with a sharp knife and enjoy with a cup of coffee or a tall glass of milk.
This recipe serves eight to ten people and will hold for about four days but is absolutely the best the first day it’s baked. You can keep it in the fridge but remove it a few minutes earlier than you’d like to cut it up so the caramel can come to room temperature.
This tart is really impressive. It took quite some time to put together but only because there was a lot of downtime with the pastry prep and resting. There’s nothing very technical about this recipe and the dough was super easy to work with. Even with no pastry or baking experience, this recipe is easy to tackle.
Although I wouldn’t mess with the pastry recipe, I would say you could change the nut combination if you have a preference or distaste for certain nuts. Dan liked the macadamia nuts the best but I thought the almonds and cashews stole the show. We both thought that the pine nuts weren’t very noticeable and would leave those out next time because those things are super pricey!
The toasted nuts provide distinct textural experiences and flavors. The crust is buttery and slightly crumbly. The caramel sauce is SO good with just the right amount of sweetness. Furthermore, this thing looks seriously professional. This tart is what a pecan pie should be, highlighting the flavors of these nuts rather than submerging them in a sea of corn syrup. It reminds me of a highly elevated Payday candy bar, with fancy nuts instead of peanuts.
It’s true, I’ve probably alienated some people with my complete abhorrence of pecan pie, but before you write me off altogether, maybe give this recipe a try? See how delicious a nut-based dessert can taste. I’m as health conscious as the next person but sometimes a girl (or guy) just needs a really naughty dessert. When you get a craving like that, don’t waste your time on a store-bought treat or a corn-syrup laden disaster like the classic pecan pie. Instead, why not try your hand at a Five Nut Caramel Tart and see what a decadent dessert can really taste like?
You won’t be sorry.
100 First Tastes 